Review of Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) by Stevenf — 22 May 2013

All eyes were firmly focused on Captain America in his first outing, simply because he was the last piece of the jigsaw which fitted into the Avengers, and my no means did this overshadow a brilliant, fun and energetic story.

Chris Evans has bulked up and left his Human Torch days behind to take on the mantle of Steve Rogers, but when we first see him in the film he isn't exactly a 'super soldier'. With the clever effects of digital imaging, he is a small, skinny and underwhelming health hazard, endlessly trying to join the army during World War II, but when he is selected for a program by Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci), to enhance his abilities to the peak of human physicality, he sees an opportunity to finally fulfil his dream.

Also part of the wider program is Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), who is immediately skeptical of Rogers involvement, but is influenced by Erskine and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who is immediately drawn to the eventual Captain.

On the other side of the lines, the German's deep science division, HYDRA, is slowly trying to remove itself from the shadow of the Third Reich to make a name for itself. after finding a mythical object known as the Tesseract, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) is out to win the war all on his own.

Captain America has a wonderfully accurate period setting that is told very much like an older film. The characters are what we would expect with their dialogue and even occasional stereotypical whims, Colonel Phillips plays the typical sarcastic yet battle hardened veteran, Carter is a woman trying to make a name for herself while we also meet Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) who is the man with his head firmly in front of everything, looking into the future...remind you of anyone?Also appearing are Neal McDonough, Toby Jones and Sebastian Stan.

Unlike Thor, there isn't much interference in terms of linking all these Marvel films together from S.H.I.E.L.D., our First Avenger stands firmly on his own, and some of the scenes in this film are truly excellent to watch, with a very big story being told and not too much of a reliance on special effects for a cheap trick explosion.

Chris Evans take on Steve Rogers is interestingly enjoyable, because even after he receives the serum which changes his whole life, he remains the same, much of what the serum is promoted as, it doesn't create, it strengthens all the attributes within the body, and this film was fantastic swan song to the Phase One solo films before the blockbuster Avengers took off.